Concert Photography

Adobe Lightroom is known for its very powerful photo editing management. It was created to help photographers in all genres to organize and modify their captured images and to make it even better. Like other programs, lightroom can be confusing since it has a lot of controls and options to consider and learn. However, with lightroom’s preset or commonly known as filtered images that can be applied to one or more images at once, everything became easier.

Adobe lightroom presets can be used easily since it can be used in one or more images. It can help us transform raw images into something beautiful. In my opinion, if you are going to try the features of lightroom, you should prepare yourself and your skills in creating presets since it is the best starting point in the program. By simply adding your desired effect and styles, you can make your own presets and you can use it to all of your collections.

I have been using and creating various styles of presets to add in my lightroom collections over the years and I also learned that creating one is not that easy; yes it is easy to create simple presets, but creating presets for professional and work related purposes is not simple.

Undeniably, not all free lightroom presets that you see online have good quality; some of those are not worth it since it is badly created. When buying lightroom presets online, make sure to check the quality first. Then, check the compatibility option to know if it can work well to older and higher version of lightroom.

Installing presets for lightroom is very simple. You just have to open lightroom, choose preferred image and select on the “develop module tab” on the right side of the interface. Right click the presets tab and choose your desired preset and you’re ready to use it on your images.

Have you ever wondered where those high quality images come from does? Most amazing and stunning images that we see everywhere (billboards, museums, exhibits and more) were captured and edited by professional photographers. Do you want to their secret? They have those lively images because they use the latest release of Adobe systems; Lightroom, a very well-known photo editing program that is capable in editing tons of images at once. Learn more about lightroom by watching this video below:

Today, we are in an era where taking pictures is a must especially on special occasions. In addition, we take pictures everywhere we go and anything we do such as partying, swimming at the beach, special events and more. However, in order to make meaningful images, we need to use a program like lightroom to modify and organize our captured images.

Lightroom also contains a lot of built in default presets, or filtered images that will turn every raw image into a more stunning photograph.

Basically, lightroom’s major feature is the presets, or a group of filtered images with special adjustments to help photographers in all levels with their workflow. Moreover, they can also create their customized presets. It’s either a black&white, lomo or vintage setting.

If you don’t have the skills to create your own presets, there are several free lightroom presets dispersed online. It depends on what version of lightroom you are utilizing. If you are using the latest version, all you have to do is download free presets that is compatible with the version and you’re ready to go.

Advantages of adobe lighroom presets

One of the best advantages of lightroom is that you can save a lot of time and effort in editing images since everything is easy to manipulate, from applying the presets to printing.

Steep Canyon Rangers played the Abbey Bar inside of Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA on 12-10-2010. Harrisburg natives, Colebrook Road, opened the show. Thanks to Greenbelt Events, this show was packed full of bluegrass fans. There was just enough space in the room for everyone to enjoy the show.

The Steep Canyon Rangers gained a lot of attention when (actor, comedian, and banjoist) Steve Martin selected them to be his backing band for an album and a tour. As result, they got to play some of the largest stages in the music scene including: Austin City Limits, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival. Sometimes, it takes luck or just being at the right place at the right time in order to get the notoriety that you deserve. This relationship proved to be both.

Each one of the Steep Canyon Rangers are excellent musicians, all of them could hold their own against the industry’s best. And not only are they great musicians but they are also impressive songwriters. Most bands within the bluegrass genre rely on traditional songs or cover songs but the Steep Canyon Rangers play mostly original pieces.

One of the cover songs that they did play however was a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Don’t Ease Me In”. This song is on one of their CDs as well and they emulate the instrumentation bond that Jerry Garcia had with Phil Lesh and Bob Wier effectively. This was one of the clear favorites of the crowd judging by the applause it received.

One of the most intimate parts of the night and my favorite part of the night was when they sung a spiritual hymnal-style song named “I Can’t Sit Down” a capella. It has a great call and response section which goes:

Won’t you sit down
Lord I can’t sit down
Won’t you sit down
Lord I can’t sit down
Won’t you sit down
Lord I Can’t sit down
‘Cos I just got to Heaven
Got to look around

Who’s that yonder dressed in red
Well it mus be the children that Moses led

If you have not seen the Steep Canyon Rangers, do yourself a favor and go see them. You will see top notch musicianship as well as well-written original bluegrass music. If you need a taste of twhat they are like stream the Austin City Limits show with Steve Martin off the ACL website, you’ll be gald you did.

The setlist more or less followed this, I did not recognize a few abbreviations from the selitst and are noted by (??):

Merly??
Kuykendall
Nowhere to Lay Low
Kicked Out Of Town
Oklahoma Stomp
Don’t Ease Me In (Grateful Dead cover)
Call The Captain
Gone??
Tennessee Blues
Be Still Moses
Hollerin’ House / Cumberland Moon
Chuck??
A Ramblin’ Man is a Ramblin’ Man
I Can’t Sit Down
Turn Up The Bottle
Knob Creek

Hoots And Hellmouth played the Abbey Bar inside of the Appalachian Brewing Company on 12-29-2010 in Harrisburg, PA. This show was video recorded for an official Hoots And Hellmouth recording. I am not aware if it will be used for a music video, promotional footage for the new album titled “The Holy Open Secret” but look out for the recording when it does surface. Hoots and Hellmouth have become one of the my most frequently seen bands.

Hoots And Hellmouth are an organic Americana/roots based band that enthusiastically stomps (literally) their way through their sets and play infectious harmonies and irresistible melodies. Songs like: Good I Know You Know, This Hand Is A Mighty Hand, Home In A Boxcar, Want On Nothing, and What Good Are Plowshares If We Use Them Like Swords are quintessential live staples that every HnHM fan craves. The energy during these songs is enough to shut down Three mile Island and run the city off the stage.

This was the third time seeing the band with a drummer and without the second guitarist so I can officially say that the band sounds full and they never lost an ounce of energy. The times that I really miss Andrew Gray is during the perfectly composed three part harmonies on some of their songs off their self-titled debut album.

The last time I saw them was a show they did to support Community Supported Agriculture, it was in a nice wooden barn on a 200+ acre farm, beautiful setting and a spectacular event. They are a band that stand up for what they believe in: simple ideals including supporting local businessesand and they do not support urban sprawl and all the evils that come with it.

If you want to see a great show and have a great time go see Hoots And Hellmouth. And make sure you say hi to them at the merchandise table afterwards, they are very down to earth guys and they appreciate their fans.

B.B. King played the Hershey Theatre in Hershey, PA on 01-08-2011. At 85 years old, B.B. King still tours more than many bands that are 1/3 of his age. Over a period of 52 years, he has played over 15,000 performances. That is almost 300 performances per year!

What a great experience it was to be able to photograph another one of my living legends, Mr. B.B. King! Unfortunately, the shoot was from the soundboard due to venue rules so I do not have any closeups of B.B., but the opportunity alone was all worth it!

It has been 10 years, almost to the day (01-23-2000), since I had last seen B.B. King perform. That was one of my favorite nights of my life as I got to meet the B.B. King after the show, get his autograph, as well as receive several guitar picks and memento pins from him. I was (and still am) in awe of how genuinely nice he is after getting to meet him in person.

If you are not familiar with any of BB King’s work, do yourself a favor and listen to ”The Thrill Is Gone”. You will experience his legendary guitar mastery (he is a vibrato virtuoso and the abie to get more out of a single note than most guitarists can with a whole fretboard) and his soulful and painfully bluesy voice that he is known for. BB King will some day be in the history books with other legends such as Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, Robert Johnson, etc it is not too late to see a living legend on tour.

As usual, B.B. King’s impressive back up band played the intro to the show without B.B. on stage to warm everyone up and show everyone what they are capable of. They all take turns soloing and belting out their version of the blues. After ten minutes or so, B.B. King walked out onto the stage to an appreciative standing crowd. He greats the band as if it were a ritual each night, takes a seat and then threw out handfuls of guitar picks and other B.B. King mementos. After his beloved guitar named Lucille was handed to him, he traded a few licks with the band and then began to tell a story. If you have ever seen B.B. before, you know that he likes to tell a lot of stories. They are always funny and have a great message.

After that, the night flew by playing many fan favorites from his catalog including: “Every Day I Have The Blues”, “Key To The Highway”, “Nobody Loves Me but My Mother”, “Rock Me Baby”, and of course “The Thrill Is Gone”.

At 85 years old, there are signs of B.B. King finally slowing down but that does not take anything away about this legend. He has paved the way for thousands of bluesmen that followed him throughout the years. At this day in age, you owe it to yourself to see the “Blues Boy King” while he is still touring.

While in no particular order, this was basically the setlist for the night:
I Need You So
Every Day I Have The Blues
Darling You Know I Love You
Key To The Highway
Nobody Loves Me but My Mother
How Blue Can You Get
I Believe I’d Give Up Living
You Are My Sunshine
Rock Me Baby
The Thrill Is Gone

Gregg Allman And Friends played the American Music Theater in Lancaster, PA on 01-09-2011 as part of the tour to support Gregg’s new solo album “Low Country Blues” which was later released on 01-18-2011. Gregg Allman is the singer and plays keys for the legendary Allman Brothers Band. He has several solo albums since his first in 1973 (“Laid Back” Blues”) including the brand new “Low Country Blues” which was recorded with the current band he tours with.

Gregg Allman has had a rough couple of years having undergone liver transplant surgery in 2010 and been diagnosed with Hepatitis C in late 2007. But Gregg looks and sounds refreshed, his legendary bluesy vocals are really strong right now. This show was one of the best solo Gregg Allman shows I have ever been to. Not only that but the whole band is firing on all cylinders right now and are performing really tight.

Scott Sherrard stuck out to me as a very impressive guitarist, even more so than in the past. His guitar parts were on point and very tasteful. He mastered the volume swells a la Duane Allman or Dickey Betts and he was able to get awesome tones out of his setup. Handling the guitar parts by himself, particularly on the Allman Brothers songs has to be a seemingly impossible task. Somehow, he pulls it off and makes it look easy. I hope to see his own band perform live in the future.

There is not much to say about Bruce Katz or Jay Collins that has not been said in the past. They are masters of their instruments and are an inspiration to all musicians. Their ability to hide in the shadows when playing the backing parts and then be able to step forward and put down some jaw-dropping solos at the flip of a switch is extremely impressive.

On this tour, they played several songs from the new album (including the infectious “Floating Bridge”) as well as the classic Gregg Allman hits such as “I’m No Angel”, “Please Call Home”, “Before The Bullets Fly”, etc. Gregg Allman and Friends also play several AllmanBrothers Band staples but they perform them in different arrangements that turn them into entirely different songs such as “Dreams”, “Statesboro Blues”, “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’”, “Melissa”, and “Whipping Post”.

A few tasteful covers were also included on the setlist, my favorite cover of the night was the blues staple, “Born Under A Bad Sign”. This blues classic sounded refreshed in their arrangement of the song. After hearing so many bands cover it so closely to the original, it is nice to hear it composed slightly different.

Gregg Allman is a legend and has been making great music for 40 years now. His new album shows us the laid back and bluesy side of Gregg that the Allman Brothers Band have built their foundation on instead. It is a great album and hope that you get to pick up this album and see his band on the road on this tour.

The setlist was as follows:
Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’
I’m No Angel
I Can’t Be Satisfied
Please Call Home
Ridin’ Thumb
Born Under A Bad Sign
You Must Be Crazy
Rolling Stone
Just Another Rider
Turn on Your Lovelight
Little By Little
Dreams
Melissa
Back To Daytona
Before The Bullets Fly
Whipping Post
Floating Bridge

With the best weather in festival history, the seventh annual Mountain Jam at Hunter Mountain featured four days of music by some of the best – including headliners Warren Haynes Band, Gov’t Mule and My Morning Jacket.

Mountain Jam has grown tremendously in the last few years. This year included the addition of the fourth day – a “Pre-Festival Party” on Thursday night – featuring six bands, shorter entry lines, and easy camping setup.

Many of the featured artists to Mountain Jam have also grown with the festival. Grace Potter was featured on a tiny stage just a few years ago, and this year rocked in the second-to-last closing spot to one of the larger crowds of the weekend. My Morning Jacket is also a festival regular, in the past having an afternoon show, and this year closing out the entire festival.

Out of 55 total bands for the weekend, 46 were new to Mountain Jam, making the festival one of the most diverse in years, and providing a new and exciting weekend for concert-goers. With four stages, it was impossible to see every act, and with as strong of a lineup as the festival had this year, attendees were bound to miss at least of few favorites.

About

All Photos on this site are Copyright protected and not to be used for any reason without prior approval. Contact me as I am always looking for more bands to photo. Mangers, Publicity, and bands large and small have all requested my work for their use in upcoming announcements, advertisements, website usage, etc. If you think i can help you out, let me know.